Building a CRM for the future

In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle sit down with Keith Peiris, cofounder of Lightfield, to unpack AI-native CRM, pricing, and go-to-market experiments. From shutting down a 25M-user product to betting on CRM’s future, they explore build vs. buy, AI hype cycles, and what monetization looks like in the AI era.—SPONSORS:Lightfield is an AI-first CRM built for modern sales teams that want to manage deals without manual data entry or dashboards. By joining sales calls, reading emails, and maintaining full account context, Lightfield helps teams prioritize deals, automate follow-ups, and stay prepared for every interaction. It’s like having a sales coach, RevOps analyst, and EA in one. Start a 14-day free trial at https://www.lightfield.app and use code MOSTLYGROWTH to get 3 months free.beehiiv is a modern newsletter platform built for creators who want to grow and monetize their audience without platform tax. With best-in-class deliverability, built-in automations, customization, and powerful analytics, beehiiv helps writers scale with full ownership of their audience. Trusted by serious newsletter operators, it’s designed for people who treat newsletters like a business. Try it free at https://www.beehiiv.com/kyle and use code KYLE30 for 30% off your first three months.Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/run—LINKS: Lightfield: https://lightfield.app/Keith on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keithpeirisMostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.comCJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-cerasoli-269792180/TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro banter — OpenAI buys TBPN1:46 Show intro2:21 Challenges with the acquisition6:04 Claude code and the build vs. buy pendulum7:02 Cost of building approaches zero9:01 Sponsors — Lightfield | beehiiv | Tabs11:58 Killing Tome to build Lightfield15:52 Pivot story: board and team reaction17:33 Why AI CRM hasn't had its moment yet19:59 CRM as a world model of your business22:23 Go to market strategy: starting with YC25:24 Call recorder as a distribution wedge26:51 Why Lightfield chose seat-based pricing28:54 Long term greedy pricing strategy31:18 Business blunders31:37 Microsoft Copilot terms of use32:00 Seven-Eleven merch store32:31 Whale hunting blunder33:48 Things we tried: Apple AI receptionist34:41 Things we tried: the milkman35:39 Lightfield lead scorer demo36:25 What do you pay for?37:04 Credits#MostlyGrowthPodcast #AIStartup #CRMSoftware #StartupPivot #Salestech #ProductLedGrowth